Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė
WINNER
WINNER
Biography
Prose writer, playwright. She was born in Vilnius. In 1994 she left Vilnius Senvage School and in 1996 – enrolled into Vilnius University Department of Extramural Studies to study the Lithuanian language and literature. In 1998-1999 she worked as a freelance publicist at magazine Malonumas, in 2000 – as a language editor at children magazine Genys, in 2001-2002 as a journalist at magazine for young mother Tavo vaikas. In 1993 she won the republic competition of young philologists and was awarded with 1st rank diploma for the best pupil prose. In 1994 she also won a competition of the First Book organized by the Writers Union. In 2001 a play Liberate the Golden Foal (Išlaisvink auksinį kumeliuką) won a play competition organized by The Fairies Theatre and Vilnius University Philology Department. In 2003 a prose and plays selection Liučė Skates (Liučė čiuožia) is published and appears among the 12 best books of the year selected by the experts of Lithuanian Literature Institute. The same year her play Liučė Skates is staged in a National Youth theatre. In 2004, Liučė Skates (Liučė Čiuožia) wins a first prize among 300 participators in an international play fair Theatretrefen organized in Berlin. She is a member of Lithuanian Writers‘Union since 2004.
Nominated book : Kvėpavimas į marmurą (Breathing into Marble)
Summary
Breathing into Marble is the fourth book by this young and talented writer. But it is her first novel, a well-crafted drama about painful solitude, family, and relationships between men and women. Černiauskaitė writes about yearning, about unused intimacy, about the gentleness and burdens of the heart, about life, about something from below and something from above. This is the story of a young mother named Isabelle and her young family, which adopts a six-year-old boy who is unable to put down roots in his new family and kills his ill adopted brother. It’s a romantic ballad with the plot of a thriller. It’s a deep psychological analysis of a mother’s soul. It’s a book full of so many strong emotions that it is almost possible to feel the characters breathing down your back while you read it.
Excerpts
Related publications
EUPL Retrospective Box
Various authors
EUPL Anthology 2009
Various authors